For The First Time In Assam, A Transgender Activist Is Appointed As Conciliator in Lok Adalat
Swati Bidhan Baruah will be a member of the bench presided over by a retired district and sessions judge. The position is equivalent to a member judge She is set to hear her first case today. The appointment comes after the appointment of Joyita Mondal in West Bengal in 2017.
For the first time, a known transgender activist from the state has been appointed as a conciliator in a Lok Adalat. The position is equivalent to a member judge.
She is set to hear her first case today.
The appointment of 27-year-old Swati Bidhan Baruah comes after the appointment of Joyita Mondal in West Bengal in 2017 and Vidya Kamble in Maharashtra this year. Baruah will be a member of the bench presided over by a retired district and sessions judge and will hear cases in Lok Adalat.
Generally, the position of conciliator in a Lok Adalat is given to advocates, social workers or mediators.
Baruah said that the appointment comes with huge responsibility. ¡°I am happy that the judiciary has trusted me after seeing my commitment and work for the community. I will do my best to provide justice and try to not keep cases pending,¡± she said.
Baruah was in news in 2012, after the Bombay High Court allowed her to undergo a sex-change operation, despite opposition from her parents.
